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Our big day began at about 5:45 AM… which was when the sun started hitting the high peaks. There was a little more cloud -again- for the start of the day but it didn’t really seem like it would affect us. We got walking at 7 AM in the cool shadows. The trail turned uphill immediately and we got busy gaining altitude. We enjoyed pretty much having it all to ourselves. We took short breaks every hour or so. There was great variety to the climb. We reached an area of high alpine lakes and ultimately a grand stone staircase to the Renjo La -the pass at 17,800 ft. We reached it at 12:30 after 4.5 hrs. Everest was visible in the distance but there were lots of clouds about, meaning we just got some quick glimpses of Lhotse and Makalu and Cho Oyu. It was a thrilling spot to be in and so we spent nearly a half hour enjoying it. We made good progress down the other side, reaching Gokyo in just two more hours… at three PM. Gokyo Lake was mesmerizing. Quite large and quite turquoise in color. It was wonderful to walk along the shore as a finish to the day. And then we were in a comfortable tea house, sipping tea again.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Very comfortable night out in the bush. Not until sunrise when the bird alarms went off did anything but a lullaby come from our surroundings. A couple hours of game driving brought us out of the park but not before some lions, elephant, giraffe to name just a few bid us farewell. Fpur of the team stayed for one more night at
Balloon Camp while the rest of us are back at Arumeru Lodge getting ready for a transfer to the airport. Another fine expedition is now in the books.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and the
Mount Rainier summit climb team reached the summit in clear, calm and chilly conditions. The team spent some time on top marveling in the views and then began their descent at 9:25 a.m. After a successful summit yesterday, the Five-Day Muir Summit Climb team, led by
Jake Beren, is on their way down from Camp Muir. We look forward to congratulating the teams in Ashford this afternoon!
We had a nice relaxed departure from Karanga camp this morning. After just a few short hours on the trail we found our selves at our high camp on
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Barafu Camp. We are moving well today and the same steady tight team pulled into camp. We already emptied our packs and adjusted the load to ready for our summit attempt tonight.
We have our food packed for the summit and enjoyed a hot lunch at camp. We are relaxing this afternoon and taking a rest before an early dinner. After dinner we will try to get a few hours of sleep before our midnight wake up call and game on! The weather continues to stay nice, just a few low clouds now and again but no complaints here. The local support staff has yet to miss a beat and we really appreciate the help. Go team Go. Will try and call you from the top.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
We woke up with a couple of inches of snow on the tents this morning. No storms or winds, just the friendly June kind of
Denali snow.
We had a very pleasant rest day. We checked in with the camp gossip and watched a few teams head up the fixed line towards 17k. Our plan is to head up to
17,000 ft and make a camp. We have really been doing a great job of sport eating and no one has had any problems with this altitude. We are all very excited because we do not drag any sleds up past this camp.
RMI Summit Team 6
P.S. Lance wants Penny to know that he is keeping up with his dental hygiene. (But the rest of him has not washed in ten days!
Also,
Uchal says Happy 2nd Birthday Lulu!
On The Map
Today we woke up with a blue skies and great temperatures, way different than what the weather was predicting.
Quickly we got ready and went for a hike to the Southeast Fork. Learning about glacier travel and the different terrain features with these incredible views is spectacular. What an environment to learn in! While at the glacier we checked our approach for
Radio Tower, which we are hoping to climb tomorrow.
All and all one more great day in a beautiful place.
Everybody in the group sends a big hello, hugs and kisses to friends and family.
All the best,
RMI Guide Andres Marin and the
Alaska Alpine Seminar
On The Map
Everything and everyone is in place at the tip of South America... ready for a flight to Antarctica. The past few days have been fun, but also a little stressful and hectic. There were the usual assortment of missed flights and lost luggage, but in the end, our team of five climbers made it down the length of the world intact. I arrived two days ago with the bulk of the team equipment and spent a day shopping for extra provisions and getting over jet lag. Today was the official start to things, as we began at 10 AM with our official introductory meeting with ALE (our logistics company for this trip) This orientation was a two-hour long gathering of all those who will be sharing the Ilyushin 76 transport plane with us to Antarctica. Roughly, there are about 25 climbers bound for Vinson who will be the big Russian jet's final customers bound for the Ice this season.
It has been fun to run into old friends and guiding partners down here, as usual. Mike Sharp, one of the principals of ALE, gave our briefing today and had me reflecting back to my first visit to the continent in 1995 when he and I spent a stormy week in a tent together at Jone's Sound on the Antarctic Peninsula. He showed slides of the operation at Patriot Hills and described the program out at Vinson Basecamp. He tried to impress on those assembled just how far from any government bases they would be and how independent and self sufficient the company and its customers must be. Afterward, I walked with my five climbers (we'll meet our second guide, Namgya, down on the ice, where he is already working with other teams) out into the bustling but friendly center of Punta Arenas. This city of 150,000 is a gateway for tourists coming to see Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego as well as Antarctica, but it is also an industrial town of great importance to Chile. We walked the few blocks back toward Magellan's Strait, and into our hotel at the water's edge. The next task was to get rid of the bulk of our gear and supplies. We brought it all downstairs to be weighed and collected on a truck. ALE will do the heavy work of loading the mammoth IL 76 out at the airport today in the hope that we'll get to fly tomorrow morning.
I got together with the team in the evening to go over maps and pictures of the Ellsworth Mountains in order to get everybody up to speed on which glaciers we'd be landing on and climbing up. We discussed strategies and expected hurdles... but I hope that we also got rid of some of the worry and nervousness that stems from choosing a goal in such a far-off and unique environment.
The work done, it was time for a dinner out on the town and a little relaxation. Punta Arenas has great dining spots... but we don't want to visit many more of them. Our hope is that we get a call early tomorrow telling us that the weather window is open and that we should get our boots on and get set for flying to Antarctica.
A little wind and snow couldn't keep this intrepid group of aspiring alpinists from training on our last full day of the
seminar. What most impressed the guides was the 100% participation of the group given the 50 mph winds and heavy snowfall.
We look forward to a last evening together going over a couple more topics and sharing a war story or two.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Well, today was our
first full day as a team. We met up for breakfast at 9 a.m. and then launched into a good meet-and-greet and a big download of info about our climb. It seems like everyone will be getting along famously and that's always a good sign.
After our team meeting we reviewed the gear needed for the climb and how to pack it all up. Then it was lunch time. The staff here at the Dik Dik has been treating very well and the food is amazing. Lunch today was three courses, dinner was five! We're all carbo-loading for the trek and everyone is psyched to hit the trail tomorrow!
RMI Guide
Seth Waterfall
We packed up our luggage this morning, checked out of our hotel in Quito, and headed north, towards the town of Otavalo. As much as we enjoyed our time in Quito, I think we all are very excited to leave behind the hustle and bustle of car horns and traffic, get out into the mountains, and enjoy the views of the snow covered peaks of the
Ecuadorian Andes. That is, after all, why we’re here.
We summited our second peak today on our final acclimatization hike. Fuya Fuya was the objective this time. At just over 14,000’, the old volcano is lower than yesterday’s climb of Rucu Pichincha but the climbing was consistently steep, from the trailhead to the summit. The trail gained elevation quickly as it climbed thru high Andean grasses, culminating in a short rocky scramble to the summit. Although the summit was in the clouds once again, the weather was terrific for the climb. We were treated to stunning views of the Laguna Mojanda below us, a large lake formed in an ancient volcanic crater. Our team also caught a brief glimpse of an Andean Condor soaring in and out of the clouds around Fuya Fuya.
Now we’re all settle in at our tranquil hacienda, Casa de Sol. We’ll have a relaxing morning tomorrow, visiting the Otavalo market, before heading up to the climbing hut on Cayambe for a couple of nights. We’ll keep you posted as always...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Brian and Craig, I knew you both had the endurance training,both mental & physical to make it if weather cooperated. So cool! You’ll never forget this experience!
Posted by: Babs Velategui on 9/1/2014 at 6:36 pm
AWESOME!!!!
Congratulations Jake ,Kyle, and TEAM on a successful summit!!! What a great accomplishment! Can’t wait to hear all about it!!!
Posted by: Mom and Dad Cremer on 8/31/2014 at 12:05 pm
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